Why does HAL charge more to book direct?

[PoseidonGodoftheSea]

I'm researching a short cruise for next year and I've noticed huge differences between HAL's prices vs big name online sites and want to know if they are legit because we're talking a $200 per person difference on suites. Does HAL authorize these discounted prices or is it a sales ploy? I've always booked directly with HAL so the idea makes me nervous.

 

I know specific sites can't be mentioned, but has anyone used the mainstream sites and have had any issues? This will not be a complicated booking, no air or hotel add-ons, just the cruise fare for two people.

 

Thanks!

[canadarocks]

I'm researching a short cruise for next year and I've noticed huge differences between HAL's prices vs big name online sites and want to know if they are legit because we're talking a $200 per person difference on suites. Does HAL authorize these discounted prices or is it a sales ploy? I've always booked directly with HAL so the idea makes me nervous.

 

I know specific sites can't be mentioned, but has anyone used the mainstream sites and have had any issues? This will not be a complicated booking, no air or hotel add-ons, just the cruise fare for two people.

 

Thanks!

 

I can't answer as to why, but I can tell you that I booked directly with HAL for my first two cruises and then happened upon a recommendation here on CC that led me to a company and I now deal with them. And they are MILES away from where I live!

 

I have two HAL cruises booked and on each of them this company has quoted me a price almost $1000 below the HAL listed price for the two of us! :cool:

[tangerinebunny]

We used one of the Big Three travel sites to book a HAL cruise last year; booking was easy.

But when I had a question I was on hold for an hour before a human-type person took my call.

But the rate we got was great.

So I guess you get what you pay for. sigh

btw, all on-line cruise specialty sites are not created equal. Be sure to check it out if it's a cruise site and not one of the big general travel sites.

[canadarocks]

And sometimes you can glean enough info here to find a company with a website, but that you can book your cruise with over the telephone! :cool:

[PoseidonGodoftheSea]

Thank you so much everybody, great advice!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

The prices you are seeing on line should be the same price as HAL's web site. HAL is in the process cracking down on the agencies that are reducing the price. Although some agencies have set up Group pricing and those prices can be lower on certain categories.

Note just because an on-line agency has the same price as HAL it does not mean they may not work with you in giving you a great discount. What you need to be looking for is customer service and is the agency looking out for you or are you just another number calling in. If you can get both then you win :)

[iriemon]

I always book with HAL if for no other reason peace of mind. A friend of mine booked a cruise on a low cost site and they ended up going bankrupt worst of all their money was tied up and even though they had all the paper work they found out they didn't have reservations, just paperwork. The cruise they had planned so long for the never got to go on to save a couple of bucks

[CruiserBruce]

It is about filling the ship.

 

You could book a cruise with HAL direct for, say, $1500 per person. Or, if you go thru your TA, they contact HAL, HAL says the list is $1500, but they will offer it to the TA for $1100. The TA says to you, I can get it for you for $1300, thus getting you a deal, getting the TA a $200 commission, and everyone is happy. HAL gave it to the TA for what HAL needed to assure a (very small) profit. HAL makes it's money on what you buy after you pay for the cabin. But if you paid $1500 to HAL, they aren't crying!

 

Business 101.

 

Disclaimer: the numbers here are an example, and may not reflect any actual commision percentage or real life cabin price. They are an example!!!

[kazu]

I always book with HAL if for no other reason peace of mind. A friend of mine booked a cruise on a low cost site and they ended up going bankrupt worst of all their money was tied up and even though they had all the paper work they found out they didn't have reservations, just paperwork. The cruise they had planned so long for the never got to go on to save a couple of bucks

 

as long as your payment goes to HAL, you are safe. Question number one to any TA whether on line or bricks and mortar, where does the money go (credit card will show).

 

that's the main thing. there are some good internet sites, main stream that provide good service and payments go to HAL. If my TA hadn't retired (and I tried two others) then I wouldn't have had to change. Now I do use a mainstream internet site that I discovered delightedly offered good service along with reduced pricing (ok, nearly same price as HAL but HUGE shipboard credit) - six of one half a dozen of the other.

 

As in any purchase, you have to check before you buy and that includes local or book with HAL.

[arzz]

I have found that there is another way that the same price can look different. There is the price for the cruise, then the taxes, and then the port charges. For reasons known only to the great spirits, the taxes that are broken out from the fare can be listed differently at different agencies when, as often as not recently, the TOTAL price that includes all three are identical.

 

You cannot compare prices without knowing that you are comparing apples to apples, so you should try to get the total cost before doing a comparison. Consider also, that many (but not all) agencies now tack on their own fee of, say, $20pp in addition.

 

As mentioned earlier, service is a really important piece that should be considered. Life is not always predictable. Things happen that necessitate changes, questions arise. Will your agent (agency) be there to answer your questions and support you when needed? Nothing beats a long term relationship with a human being when the going gets tough.

 

Over the years we have used brick and mortar agencies, internet only agencies, and agencies with both internet and phone service. I remember one last minute booking I made with one of the "big three" -- what could go wrong with such a short time before the cruise? Well, not only was I on hold forever each time I called, but I spoke to a different person each time I called, never received a confirmation of payment, and our cruise docs arrived at our home with our address and someone else's name. We learn from our past experiences. I no longer sweat over a relatively small difference in cost -- I choose the best service for a reasonable price.

[tcook052]

It is about filling the ship.

 

You could book a cruise with HAL direct for, say, $1500 per person. Or, if you go thru your TA, they contact HAL, HAL says the list is $1500, but they will offer it to the TA for $1100. The TA says to you, I can get it for you for $1300, thus getting you a deal, getting the TA a $200 commission, and everyone is happy. HAL gave it to the TA for what HAL needed to assure a (very small) profit. HAL makes it's money on what you buy after you pay for the cabin. But if you paid $1500 to HAL, they aren't crying!

 

Business 101.

 

Disclaimer: the numbers here are an example, and may not reflect any actual commision percentage or real life cabin price. They are an example!!!

 

 

As a TA I'm quite confident these are only an example and bear to resemblence to reality as HAL marking down their product by almost 25% would mean they failed business 101. :D

 

My guess is group pricing or they're rebating some of their commission. The advice about making sure your payment goes to HAL directly is sound and should be heeded.

[BruceMuzz]

If you telephne General Motors in Detroit and ask them ot sell you a Chevrolet, their price will not be as good as the one you can get form your local showroom.

GM doesn't want to compete with it's dealers.

They also do not want thousands of shoppers visiting GM headquarters to buy a new car. They do not have nearly enough parking spaces or salespeople to handle large numbers.

 

If you visit a winery in California, you can buy a bottle or two there, but the price you pay will be higher than the price at your local bottle shop.

The winery doesn't want to undercut the wine shops who are selling it's products.

They also do not want thousands of extra people visiting their winery just to buy a bottle or two. They do not have nearly enough parking places or staff to handle large numbers.

 

Can you guess why the cruise lines are not encouraging all of humanity to purchase a cruise directly through the cruise line?

[Randyk47]

Though some are reporting higher I'm more than pleased with the 10-12% savings I've gotten with my Internet TA's. We book SS or B and above some that amounts to a pretty good savings. Over the years we've built a list of three Internet providers. They specialize in cruises and are not generic travel agencies. They're all reachable by phone and email. All the deposits and final payment are directly charged by HAL not by the agency. Every time I've booked a cruise with any of them the booking has been available through HAL's website within an hour, maybe two. I understand this may not be for everybody and I have no problem with that but works for us works for us.

[Hlitner]

We generally save more than $1000 by booking through various on line TAs. Since we use a very limited group of major TAs whose computers are directly linked to HA our bookings (made on a TA web site) will immediately show-up on the HA site (on our account) and our credit card is processed by HA. Bottom line is that instead of a few mouse clicks on the HA site we do a few mouse clicks on a TA site and save big bucks. Sometimes the prices might be the same but there are other amenities. For example, on a recent Prinsendam booking we were able to get a $1075 on board credit through a major TA that is not available by booking direct with HA.

 

Hank

[NH Cruisers]

My first two cruises I booked through two different TA's (I wasn't happy with either). Those two cruises were by far the most expensive I ever booked. Then not knowing anything about booking any type of reservation, I got taken. I was charged $90 for the TA to book our airline reservations alone.

 

Now I do every thing on my own. I book the cruise on line at the cruise lines site. I book Air and hotel online too. I pay a fraction for cruise vacations now then 6 years ago. They seem to keep getting cheaper.

 

My next 11 day "Zuiderdam" cruise with a balcony is Very much a cheaper vacation than my first "Explorer of the Sea" 7 day balcony cruise.

 

I always hear from someone who got a better deal than me, but not by more than $100 or so total. I like being in control of my bookings. It really is easy once you have done it a time or two.

 

Jon,

[VTcruisenut]

This will be our 4th cruise with HAL and this is the only cruise I booked directly with HAL. I have used major internet travel companies in the past. this time I e-mailed HAL to ask some questions and they quoted me a price that was originally $150 less than the internet travel. When I finally booked, it was down another $50 pp. so I saved $200 pp - they said it was the Past Mariner discount..........the sites I have seen advertise a ship-board credit but the cabin we book never qualifies for it!

I am happy with my $499 per person price and last time we ended up with an upgrade!

[Prairie_Gal]

Our two previous cruises were with Carnival, and with them their listed prices are the same as the prices on the internet TA sites.

 

I was shocked when I started researching our Alaska cruise at the difference in prices between the HA website and those same cruises on an internet TA sight. And then when I called the TA, they quoted me an even better price. I saved at least $200 pp by going through them, plus $50 OBC.

[darienill]

I've looked many times after booking to see if I can beat the price quoted and so far haven't found much after all items are added in.

I check both agency sites and Cruise line sites.

 

I originally started by using an agency and found them hard to work with. Then they took my final payment and went bankrupt. I was saved by VISA. I only found out when I went to check my booking and I couldn't see my final payment on the cruise line website.

After that, I've been going direct with the cruise line.

 

I also had to use my trip insurance once so I'm a firm believer in that also.

[iancal]

We have never booked directly with any cruise line. We always use an on line TA. When we buy insurance, it is directly from the insurer-not from a TA or from the cruise line. We typically save anywhere from 10-15 percent on cruise fare, considerably more on insurance (usually 30-50 percent). For us, that equates to a 'free' cruise every 8-10 cruises. Our on line TA is first rate. No charges for cabin changes, price adjustments, cancellations within the window, etc.. Cruise fare is always charged directly to our credit card by the TA. Buying a cruise is like buying any other commodity for us.

[HamburgAvonLady]

:mad: :mad: :mad: PLEASE, PLEASE be very cautious of some of the "too good to be true" offers and discounts you may see with

some online travel sites. We had a terrible experience

in 2009 with a widely advertised online travel agency

located in Florida who was happy to take our money and promised

extremely generous OBC's if I paid in full at the time of

initial reservation. I was under the impression that by using my CC -- my money was safe and protected. Boy,

what a wake up call I discovered 6 months later !!!

 

To make a long story short --- this agency was using new

clients' full payments to keep themselves afloat --- they never paid RCCL for our cruise until 2 days prior to departure even though they had my money for over 6 months !! They also charged an additonal $ 900 to my cc

while I was at sea with NO advance warning or permission on my part. I never got the fuel surcharges

refunded back to me, even though other victums of this agency, did. When I opened a dispute with my cc --- I was told nothing could be done as the dispute needed

to be done within 60 days of initial payment even though

I had 6 months to wait before leaving on the cruise and,

technically, had NOT received the merchandise I had paid for.

 

So please, check with the BBB and State Attorney General's office of the state in which the online agency you are looking at is located BEFORE laying down your money. (this by the way, is still no guarentee they are still not crooks !!)

 

I am not new to cruising and have even worked for a travel agency a number of years ago. This is NOT the

way a reputible agency -- brick and mortar or online ---

operates.

 

You can also read about KweenKaren's experience on the HAL Roll Call -- her cruise was in Sept. 2009 to the South Pacific and Australia.

 

"Frosting on the Cake": Agency is bankrupt but the owners and employees are still doing business under

different names !!!!!!!!!!! :eek::mad::eek:

[schoolinmy3]

I've looked many times after booking to see if I can beat the price quoted and so far haven't found much after all items are added in.

I check both agency sites and Cruise line sites.

 

I also prefer to book directly with HAL. Our PCC has been wonderful to work with and I have no complaints. This time I checked around online and at a local travel agency and wasn't able to find any significant price difference for the cruise we wanted to take. I am not saying there isn't a better price out there somewhere but we do tend to book early and watch for the sales on HAL. We have been able to catch good deals that way and even had a very nice upgrade on our Alaska cruise after the initial booking by calling our PCC during a promotion.

diane

[iancal]

There is a very straightforward way to protect yourself. Simply ensure that EVERY payment made to the travel agency is actually done via the cruise line. So when you pay your deposit, ask if the credit charge will be made by the agency or by the cruise line. You want the latter. Same goes for final payment. If this is not the case, then something is very wrong. On line TA agencies work on smaller profit margins....they simply cannot afford to process a change card transaction on their own when the credit card company fee for doing this is anywhere from 2 to 6 percent. We would never buy insurance from the TA or from the cruise line. We prefer primary insurance-directly from the insurer-it gives us better coverage and costs considerably less money.

[Randyk47]

There is a very straightforward way to protect yourself. Simply ensure that EVERY payment made to the travel agency is actually done via the cruise line. So when you pay your deposit, ask if the credit charge will be made by the agency or by the cruise line. You want the latter. Same goes for final payment. If this is not the case, then something is very wrong. On line TA agencies work on smaller profit margins....they simply cannot afford to process a change card transaction on their own when the credit card company fee for doing this is anywhere from 2 to 6 percent. We would never buy insurance from the TA or from the cruise line. We prefer primary insurance-directly from the insurer-it gives us better coverage and costs considerably less money.

 

Absolutely sound and right on advice. The three Internet TA's we use all operate this way and we've never had a problem. I also watch for booking confirmations back from the TA and then quickly check HAL to see if the booking number the TA has provided works with HAL. Never waited more than an hour or two at the longest and the booking number has always worked. All credit card charges have always been posted as being submitted by HAL so if there has been a slow down it's been HAL hitting the credit card for the charge.

[iancal]

There seems to be a general feeling that a bricks and mortar agency is somehow less likely to go under than an internet agency. I have never understood this reasoning. My feeling is that the B&M agencies are more likely to go under because of falling margins, higher overheads, and less competitve service windows. In any event, it does not matter if you are paying your money directly to the carrier.

[Randyk47]

There seems to be a general feeling that a bricks and mortar agency is somehow less likely to go under than an internet agency. I have never understood this reasoning. My feeling is that the B&M agencies are more likely to go under because of falling margins, higher overheads, and less competitve service windows. In any event, it does not matter if you are paying your money directly to the carrier.

 

No doubt that's true. Here in San Antonio the biggest brick and mortar agency is less than half the size it was just a couple of years ago. They've had to close a number of offices, in fact all but one, that were spread all over town. We have a friend who is an agent with them and while they're fairly solid right now, thanks to cost cutting, they're still nowhere as robust as they once were. Stuff happens and the rules for booking a cruise or any other travel applies equally to a brick and mortar or an Internet agency. Look for the same handling of your bookings not matter who you book through.